Sony outlines plans to rule mobile in Europe and Japan before US conquest

CEO gets real over global domination

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Sony's recent line of Xperia Android smartphones have more able to compete with the top Apple, Samsung and HTC releases, but unfortunately critical acclaim hasn't translated into comparable sales figures.

The company plans to establish itself, at least initially, as the third-placed manufacturer, but global supremacy will take time, according to CEO Kaz Hirai.

For now, the Sony boss plans to focus its attentions on the Japanese and European markets, which account for 60 per cent of its smartphone sales, before tackling the trickier United States market.

Hirai told journalists: "[Europe and Japan] are the most important areas for us and we'll put substantial resources there. But not yet for the U.S. and China. It's not realistic to try to do everything at once. In the U.S. we'll start gradually."

Standing out from the crowd

Despite launching some much-improved devices over the last couple of years, exemplified by the newest Xperia Z1 handset, Sony has struggled to differentiate its handsets from the Android crowd.

The Xperia Z1 boasts a 5-inch, 1080p Full HD screen, a 20-megapixel camera, powerful quad-core processor and is also waterproof and packs it all into a super-slim premium design. Impressive.

However, the Android market is saturated with devices making similar high-spec promises, such as Samsung's Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3, the HTC One and the new surprisingly impressive LG G2.

With that in mind, Sony's desire to walk before it starts to run in the U.S. is probably wise.